Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods
<p>Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands region are significant sources of fugitive emissions of methane to the atmosphere, but detailed knowledge on spatial and temporal variabilities is lacking due to limitations of the methods deployed under current regulatory compliance monitoring progra...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/14/1879/2021/amt-14-1879-2021.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819143273192620032 |
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| author | Y. You Y. You R. M. Staebler S. G. Moussa J. Beck R. L. Mittermeier |
| author_facet | Y. You Y. You R. M. Staebler S. G. Moussa J. Beck R. L. Mittermeier |
| author_sort | Y. You |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands region are significant sources of fugitive emissions of methane to the atmosphere, but detailed knowledge on
spatial and temporal variabilities is lacking due to limitations of the methods deployed under current regulatory compliance monitoring programs. To
develop more robust and representative methods for quantifying fugitive emissions, three micrometeorological flux methods (eddy covariance,
gradient, and inverse dispersion) were applied along with traditional flux chambers to determine fluxes over a 5-week period. Eddy covariance flux
measurements provided the benchmark. A method is presented to directly calculate stability-corrected eddy diffusivities that can be applied to
vertical gas profiles for gradient flux estimation. Gradient fluxes were shown to agree with eddy covariance within 18 %, while inverse
dispersion model flux estimates were 30 % lower. Fluxes were shown to have only a minor diurnal cycle (15 % variability) and were weakly
dependent on wind speed, air, and water surface temperatures. Flux chambers underestimated the fluxes by 64 % in this particular campaign. The
results show that the larger footprint together with high temporal resolution of micrometeorological flux measurement methods may result in more
robust estimates of the pond greenhouse gas emissions.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T12:23:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e01046538b8c47cbb6bc2072fd2c0f47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T12:23:37Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| spelling | doaj.art-e01046538b8c47cbb6bc2072fd2c0f472022-12-21T18:25:55ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Measurement Techniques1867-13811867-85482021-03-01141879189210.5194/amt-14-1879-2021Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methodsY. You0Y. You1R. M. Staebler2S. G. Moussa3J. Beck4R. L. Mittermeier5Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, Canadanow at: Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 1A7, CanadaAir Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, CanadaAir Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, CanadaSuncor Energy Inc., Calgary, T2P 3Y7, CanadaAir Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, Canada<p>Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands region are significant sources of fugitive emissions of methane to the atmosphere, but detailed knowledge on spatial and temporal variabilities is lacking due to limitations of the methods deployed under current regulatory compliance monitoring programs. To develop more robust and representative methods for quantifying fugitive emissions, three micrometeorological flux methods (eddy covariance, gradient, and inverse dispersion) were applied along with traditional flux chambers to determine fluxes over a 5-week period. Eddy covariance flux measurements provided the benchmark. A method is presented to directly calculate stability-corrected eddy diffusivities that can be applied to vertical gas profiles for gradient flux estimation. Gradient fluxes were shown to agree with eddy covariance within 18 %, while inverse dispersion model flux estimates were 30 % lower. Fluxes were shown to have only a minor diurnal cycle (15 % variability) and were weakly dependent on wind speed, air, and water surface temperatures. Flux chambers underestimated the fluxes by 64 % in this particular campaign. The results show that the larger footprint together with high temporal resolution of micrometeorological flux measurement methods may result in more robust estimates of the pond greenhouse gas emissions.</p>https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/14/1879/2021/amt-14-1879-2021.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Y. You Y. You R. M. Staebler S. G. Moussa J. Beck R. L. Mittermeier Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| title | Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| title_full | Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| title_fullStr | Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| title_short | Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| title_sort | methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods |
| url | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/14/1879/2021/amt-14-1879-2021.pdf |
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